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al-ahli hospital
'We Are In Complete Shock': Israel Bombs Last Fully Functioning Hospital in North Gaza
"Once again we repeat: Patients, health workers, and hospitals must be protected. The aid blockade must be lifted. Cease-fire," the WHO chief said.
Apr 13, 2025
Israeli forces bombed the last fully functioning hospital in northern Gaza early Sunday morning, killing at least three people, including a 12-year-old boy.
The missile attack on al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City is the latest in what has been described as Israel's "campaign of genocide" to systematically attack Gaza's healthcare infrastructure, which has damaged 33 out of Gaza's 36 hospitals.
The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which manages al-Ahli hospital, said in a statement Sunday that it condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms."
"The Diocese of Jerusalem is appalled at the bombing of the hospital now for the fifth time since the beginning of the war in 2023—and this time on the morning of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week," the diocese said. "We call upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions. We pray and call for the end of this horrific war and the suffering of so many."
According to the diocese, patients and health workers were only given 20 minutes to evacuate before two missiles struck, destroying the hospital's genetic laboratory and damaging the pharmacy, emergency department, and the neighboring St. Philip’s church.
"We are in complete shock," Dr. Yousef Al-Haddad, a physiotherapy specialist at the hospital, told Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). "As I speak to you, I'm surrounded by piles of rubble and destruction. The laboratory was the only one in Gaza that provided a range of tests unavailable in any other hospital—and now it's been entirely lost. Emergency and reception services were shared between the al-Ahli Hospital and al-Shifa Hospital, with our hospital taking the lead as it was the only hospital equipped with a CT scanner. Now, following last night's attack, these services have entirely ceased. This will undoubtedly increase the pressure on al-Shifa Hospital, which is already operating with a smaller capacity."
In the rushed evacuation, critically ill patients had to be moved into the streets in the cold. While no one died in blast itself, the hurried evacuation resulted in three deaths, including that of a 12-year-old boy who was being treated for a head injury.
"He was on oxygen, as were the two other patients, and the family basically walked with them to a nearby hospital, a very small facility with no capacity for the number of patients heading their way," Razan al-Nahhas, an emergency doctor who had previously worked at the hospital, toldAl Jazeera. "And they [the patients] arrived dead."
A Red Crescent doctor toldMiddle East Eye that finding space for the evacuated patients could be difficult.
"All the hospitals are overcrowded and are unprepared for providing full medical services, this will surely reflect on the health of the wounded, the patients and it could result in the loss of their lives, the loss of their body parts, or could cause long-term disability," he said.
"Faith leaders in our nation and worldwide must speak out against the war of extermination being waged by Israel using the support of the U.S. government and with American taxpayer dollars."
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on social media that 50 patients had been moved to other hospitals, while 40 were too ill or injured to relocate.
"Hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law," Gheybreyesus continued. "Attacks on healthcare must stop. Once again we repeat: Patients, health workers, and hospitals must be protected. The aid blockade must be lifted. Cease-fire."
MAP called on the international community "to take immediate action to protect Gaza's hospitals and medical personnel."
"There must be an immediate and permanent cease-fire, an end to all arms transfers to Israel, and full accountability for repeated violations of international law, including the deliberate targeting of hospitals," the group wrote. "Israel must be held to its legal obligation to repair the destruction it has caused to Gaza's health infrastructure and allow unimpeded humanitarian access in line with the orders of the International Court of Justice."
Al-Ahli Hospital first grabbed international attention early in the war, when a bombing in October 2023 killed hundreds of people. At the time, Israel denied that it had launched the attack. However, since then, it has attacked the hospital four times including on Sunday.
Religious groups also condemned the timing of the attack on Palm Sunday, a sacred celebration for Christians in Palestine and around the world.
The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine said, "The attack, carried out on Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar, constitutes a grave violation of religious sanctity and fundamental principles of international humanitarian law."
"The far-right Israeli government has shown time and again it is willing to violate religious norms, whether targeting Palestinian Christians or Muslims, in its genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people," the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement. "Faith leaders in our nation and worldwide must speak out against the war of extermination being waged by Israel using the support of the U.S. government and with American taxpayer dollars. We call on the Trump administration to similarly condemn this attack."
Israel, for its part, said that the hospital was targeted because it was a "command and control" center for the militant group Hamas, according to Middle East Eye. However, it did not provide any evidence.
The hospital bombing was only one of several attacks carried out by Israel in Gaza on Sunday, which together killed at least 21 people, The Associated Press reported.
It also followed Israel's claim on Saturday that it had succeeded in isolating Rafah in the south from the rest of the Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera. Israel had promised to cordon off the city earlier in the week.
As of Sunday, the Gaza's Health Ministry said that Israel's assault on Gaza since October 7, 2023 had killed at least 50,944 Palestinians and injured 116,156. More than 1,500 of those deaths have occurred since Israel ended a tentative cease-fire on March 18.
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'Where Are They Supposed to Go?' Asks Tlaib After Israel Orders Evacuation of Gaza Hospital
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib demanded to know whether President Joe Biden would "remain silent" as Israel threatened the lives of thousands of Palestinians sheltering at al-Quds Hospital.
Oct 20, 2023
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib called on President Joe Biden on Friday to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu out of his most recent evacuation order in Gaza, this one threatening thousands of people in al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City with an imminent bombing unless they leave the facility.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the hospital has become a "sanctuary" to more than 400 patients, some of whom are critically injured, and 12,000 displaced people in recent days as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has bombarded Gaza with airstrikes, killing at least 4,137 Palestinians so far.
Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American member of Congress, demanded to know whether Biden would "remain silent" about Israel's threat.
"Where are they supposed to go? Where!" she said, addressing the president on social media. "You must demand that your BFF Netanyahu withdrawal his evacuation order. Our country can't keep supporting this massacre of civilians."
PRCS issued an "urgent appeal" to the international community, warning that Israel had threatened to bomb the hospital.
The reported threat came days after a bombing at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, for which Hamas and Israel have traded blame this week.
"We call on the world to take immediate and urgent action to prevent a new massacre like the one that occurred on the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital," said PRCS.
Al-Quds, the group said on social media, "could turn to ashes if those threats are carried out."
PRCS posted a video that showed dozens of families, including small children, who are currently relying on al-Quds Hospital for shelter.
In the U.K., former Member of Parliament Chris Williamson called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to intervene.
At Al Jazeera, Youmna ElSayed reported that following "an hour of relative, cautious calm" earlier in the evening in Gaza City, Israel has stepped up its bombardments throughout the city.
"Is there a world power capable of stopping the threats of the Israeli occupation army to bomb hospitals with innocent civilians inside?" asked PRCS.
The Institute for Middle East Understanding warned that "400 patients cannot simply evacuate."
"Neither can the 12,000 Palestinians sheltering inside," the group said. "Israel has bombed hospitals, schools, churches, and homes. No one in Gaza is safe, no matter where they go."
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Protests Erupt as Israel, Palestinians Trade Blame After Gaza Hospital Strike Kills Hundreds
"The death toll right now is more than 500, but we believe that number will reach more than 1,000," said one Gaza medical doctor.
Oct 17, 2023
Authorities in Gaza said Tuesday night that an Israel Defense Forces airstrike on a hospital holding thousands of patients, staff, and people seeking shelter from Israel's relentless bombardment killed at least 500 civilians, while IDF officials blamed the deaths on a botched Islamic Jihad rocket attack.
Photos and videos from al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City posted on social media showed bodies and body parts scattered about in the fiery aftermath of the blast. One video shared by senior Al Jazeera journalist Ali Hashem reportedly shows the moment when a rocket or missile strikes the Anglican-run hospital, causing a massive, earth-shaking explosion.
"The death toll right now is more than 500, but we believe that number will reach more than 1000," Ziad Shehadah, a medical doctor and resident of Gaza, told Al Jazeera. "It is a massacre."
Ghassan Abu Sittah, a physician with the international charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said on social media: "We were operating in the hospital, there was a strong explosion, and the ceiling fell on the operating room. This is a massacre."
MSF said that "nothing justifies this shocking attack on a hospital and its many patients and health workers, as well as the people who sought shelter there."
"Hospitals are not a target. This bloodshed must stop. Enough is enough," the group added.
Many Gazans had fled to the hospital after Israeli authorities ordered 1.1 million Palestinians to flee for their lives—an alleged war crime compared to the Nakba ethnic cleansing of Arabs from Palestine during the establishment of the modern state of Israel—amid a bombing campaign that has killed more than 3,500 people, including over 1,000 children, since October 7.
"What's s happened is terrible because those people, all of them are civilians. They fled their homes and reached a place that they believed was safe—a hospital, which according to international law, is a safe place," Shehadah said. "People left their homes thinking they were more dangerous and they move to our schools and hospitals to be safe. And in one minute, all of them have been killed at a hospital."
Referring to the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian National Initiative party, told Al Jazeera that "what happened is nothing but a deliberate war crime by the war criminal Netanyahu and his war cabinet."
"These people have committed another massacre against the Palestinian people," he continued. "They attacked a hospital. This is not only unacceptable, it's so savage.. attacking a hospital where people are taking refuge from the places that were bombarded by Israelis and forced to leave, trying to find some safe passage in the hospital or near the hospital. This means there are no safe places for Palestinians."
"This was a genocide committed in front of the whole world in a place that should be safe," he added.
On Monday, Netanyahu called Palestinian civilians "the children of darkness," while calling Israel's war on Gaza "a struggle between humanity and the law of the jungle."
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari declared last week that in this war, "the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy."
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted that the WHO "strongly condemns the attack on al-Alhi Arab Hospital in north Gaza."
"Early reports indicate hundreds of deaths and injuries," he added. "We call for the immediate protection of civilians and health care, and for the evacuation orders to be reversed."
Hamas—which governs Gaza and whose fighters led the surprise attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 civilians and soldiers—called the hospital attack "a crime of genocide."
"The hospital massacre confirms the enemy's brutality and the extent of his feeling of defeat," said Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who called the attack "a new turning point."
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blamed "a failed Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket" for the blast.
"From an analysis of the IDF's operational systems, an enemy rocket barrage was carried out towards Israel, which passed in the vicinity of the hospital, when it was hit," the IDF claimed.
However, critics noted that the IDF is known to deny and deflect responsibility for its deadly attacks on Palestinian civilians, including Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
Others pointed out that Israeli forces have already bombed al-Ahli Hospital during the current war on Gaza.
On Sunday, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said that four al-Ahli staff members were injured "by Israeli rocket fire" during a Saturday night attack.
"The evil and barbaric terror attacks on Israelis by Hamas were a blasphemous outrage," Welby said. "But the civilians of Gaza are not responsible for the crimes of Hamas."
The hospital attack sparked large protests in the illegally occupied West Bank, as well as in cities throughout the Middle East and around the world. Demonstrations took place in Tuesday night in Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Tunisia, and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said at least six civilians were killed Monday afternoon when one of the agency's schools being used as a shelter in the al-Maghazi refugee camp was bombed.
"Dozens were injured, including UNRWA staff, and severe structural damage was caused to the school," Lazzarini said. "The numbers are likely to be higher. This is outrageous, and it again shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians."
"At least 4,000 people have taken refuge in this UNRWA school-turned-shelter," he added. "They had and still have nowhere else to go. No place is safe in Gaza anymore, not even UNRWA facilities."
Israeli has attacked U.N. schools in previous assaults on Gaza and blamed it on Palestinian militants.
The hospital and school attacks occurred on the eve of a trip to Israel by U.S. President Joe Biden. The president has declared his "rock-solid and unwavering support" for Israel, which receives nearly $4 billion in annual U.S. military aid.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for three days of mourning for victims of the hospital attack and canceled a meeting with Biden planned for Wednesday, according toNPR.
In the wake of the hospital attack, Russia and the United Arab Emirates called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, the Security Council rejected a Russian draft resolution calling for a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. The U.S., United Kingdom, France, and Japan voted against the resolution.
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